Sprint not too enthusiastic on Windows Phones

Waiting for Sprint to introduce a new Windows Phone? I wouldn't expect anything too soon.

Sprint's Vice President of Product Realization David Owens let it be known that while the wireless carrier is bulking up its LTE lineup it will be with Android devices for now. Sprint may take another chance at Windows Phone in the August-September time frame.

"We have a Windows device in our lineup, but honestly, it hasn't done well enough for us to jump back into the fire. We told Microsoft: You guys have to go build the enthusiasm for the product."

Owens also stated the the number one reason the HTC Arrive, Sprint's only Windows Phone, was returned was the user experience. Sprint's Director of Product Development Lois Fagan added,

"We want to participate in the market, but we can't build that brand by ourself. We're cautiously optimistic, but [Windows Phone] just hasn't taken off."

The news shouldn't be much of a shocker. While the Arrive has been on Sprint for some time, Sprint has done very little to promote the Windows Phone platform. Android devices, on the other hand seem to be centerpiece of their ad campaigns. Can anyone remember any Windows Phone commercials from Sprint?

While Microsoft and the hardware manufacturers should do their part in promoting Windows Phone devices, but Sprint needs to step up to the plate as well.

Reader comments

Sprint not too enthusiastic on Windows Phones

"We have a Windows device in our lineup, but honestly, it hasn't done well enough for us to jump back into the fire. We told Microsoft: You guys have to go build the enthusiasm for the product."

and MS said to Sprint
* your reps need to take their heads out of there ARS and stop pushing clients away from WP and onto a None reliable OS like android. (specially people new to Smartphones) ***

i hope MS drops Sprint for good... who needs a carrier that doesnt care. not like they helped on sells. the only WP sprint sold is to INFORMED clients like us. every one else got stuck on a phone that reboots 4 times a day.

Basically what you said (although I'll be a little more objective and not comment about the reliability of Android).
Wouldn't be surprised if Sprint reps weren't trained on Windows Phones or weren't pushing it at all or weren't trying to talk interested parties out of buying a WP device. Oh wait, they aren't.
Sprint seems lazy and just wants someone else to do the actual work, like all the ground work/marketing/word-of-mouth that had been done for iPhone before they finally got it.
Enthusiasm is a two-way street. If Sprint employees were enthusiastic about putting a WP in people's faces they might get enthused! So glad I'm not on Sprint...

but the reps are trained!!!!problem is they are on mosst part BIAS.
most reps sell whatt hey use.. android , Iphone, BB...
Who was it that sent his sister to look at a WP . and the rep said NO WAY . im not even gona show you the phone. its crap .... !! lol ....
even if you dont like it .. NEVER PUSH A CLIENT AWAY!! .. lol... ;) fan boys never make good reps.

F sprint in the A. You are right. I went into sprint to buy the phone and THEY not only dogged the phone, but when questioned did not know ANYTHING about it! When I first purchased it the two employees whom asked if they could set up the email on the phone for me did not know how to do it. They admitted they never used wp7 nor turned it on.
OVER and over they have told customers (including my sister and her son) she couldn't have the phone because it, WP7, is "buggy" and then sold them one of the worst android phones! Unfortunatly she 'believed' the stupid rep because he worked in the market.
If ATT was decent in my area I would switch. I pray ATT's service improves in a year when our contract is up. I will switch.

I get that argument, but how much data do you actually use? I peaked at around 3 GB once but since I finally got WiFi in my house my data usage has dropped significantly. I went to AT&T for the Focus S and couldn't be happier.

Also, what good is unlimited data if it's slower than molasses? On a good day, outside with full bars I would get about 1.2 Mbps down and maybe 300 Kbps up. Now I consistently get 3 to 4 Mbps down. No comparison.

I am bolting for AT&T as soon as my contract is up in April. I love my Arrive (still not completely used to the virtual keyboards) but Sprint's service is garbage in my area and there's no way I come close to maxing out on anybody's data plan.
Funny that you guys talk about the service reps not pushing Windows Phone, but the service rep at the Sprint store I went to pushed it really hard on me. That being said, this store is across the street from Microsoft's US headquarters in Bellevue, so its probably a little different everywhere else.

The store I went to nearest me had a sales associate pretty much do everything he could to steer me to Android. Had I been an uninformed consumer easily swayed by sales banter, I would have walked out of there with an Android phone.

Luckily, I'm not so uninformed. I knew I wanted an Arrive, and that's exactly what I got.

That's the thing, Sprint's coverage is pretty good in my area. At least as good as Verizon's 3G coverage which is the most comprehensive in my area.

I love Windows Phone, but I don't pick my network by what phones I want. I pick it for what it offers and the price. Going to Verizon would be pointless as they're just as indifferent to Windows Phone as Sprint and there's not a chance in hell I'm going to AT&T.

Translated...
We're 4th on the priority list for Nokia behind AT&T, TM and Verizon in the USA. All phone manufaturers also know we are incompetent & don't even know if we're LTE or WIMAX.
But we payed 100Billion for the 3G iPhone4 and those customers don't know the difference anyways.
Our "4G" network will be more stable later in the year. Nokia will have a phone ready for us when it is

I have had Sprint for 10 years and I have absolutely loved them....until now that is. I guess I'll be taking my money over to AT&T even though I am not too thrilled about their prices. At least I'll have choice when it comes to phones.

I've had Sprint for almost 10 years, but this confirms my decision to leave them for AT&T when the Lumia 900 comes out. My Sprint 3G connection has barely been working since the iPhone came out. Sprint wasted all its money on a failed 4G technology WiMax, they have no LTE network, and they've bet the whole company on the old iPhone. I'm tired of funding their mistakes. Time to grow up and get a real wireless service from a company that has a future.

Me Three! 10 years with Sprint and I got tired of them screwing their vision of the phones. They tried to push my family to Android... I walked with each family member to the store and got six HTC Arrive phones. The family is very happy and well communicated with the Windows Phones.
I want the Nokia 900... I am bailing out Sprint (and will pay the early cancellation fee); going to AT&T with their 2GB and better phones. One more year and I will be taking my whole family to a different carrier once their contract ends.
Although its nice that we all have the same great Windows Phone, we always get confused which WP7 is from who. There is no phone diversity in my kitchen and I blame Sprint for that.

If you want a WP7 and dont want to be harrassed by the Sprint sale guys, get it online from Amazon.com

Exactly, before the iPhone came to Sprint, my 3G speeds were decent to say the least. Now, it takes minutes to load a low quality video on Youtube....and forget about streaming music from Zune. If AT&T doesn't work too well in my city then I'm outta luck. T-mobile only has 2G and VZW doesn't have any WP devices confirmed to be coming soon.

Oh and one more thing, if you leave Sprint for AT&T.....let them know it's because YOU WANT A WINDOWS PHONE.

I already left Sprint after like 12 years for AT&T and the Titan (free - they matched the Black Saturday deal by crediting me, eventually). They wouldn't let me keep my old data plan, so I was going to have to pay more anyway, plus I wanted a better WP7 selection than the Arrive. So I left, just like that. Got my wife a little Pantech messaging phone that she likes, too.

We all know carrier and sales rep bias is holding WP back tremendously. So I've said many times before, MS should purchase Sprint via an unsolicitated bid. Think strategically MS, cut bias out and move to closer to complete vertical integration. And Sprint owns Virgin Mobile USA, a major prepaid company in the US.

Sprint: oh cool we have the new HTC Arrive! hope it sells well
*never advertises it, sells a bit, great reviews*
Sprint: oh cool we just got the new [insert 5 word name for low end android phone]. ADVERTISE THE CRAP OUT OF THIS GUYS.
*sells a lot, horrible reviews, numerous returns and replacements*

Sprint: We have a Windows device in our lineup, but honestly, it hasn't done well enough for us to jump back into the fire. We told Microsoft: You guys have to go build the enthusiasm for the product.

I would believe that HTC Arrive may not sell as good as other smartphones in the market but I also believe that poor and unfair description of the product can drag the overall impression and marketability of such. After looking at the community page of Sprint for the HTC Arrive Reviews there is a clear noticeable indication of poor description of the handset. It is definitely unacceptable and maybe the writer of that is not aware of it.
I am practically fused over this statement. It says there that the HTC Arrive has "CONFUSING INTERFACE" which I may understand because it does not run Android or iOS they are familiar with. But to say that it is CONFUSING is relatively absurd and one of many reasons why its sales did not shoot up.

Sprint, those are the kind of comments that you don't tell the public. You keep them inside the company, and give the public a professional comment such as this: "We are evaluating and monitoring the success of Windows Phone and, on the contingency of its continued success, have a plan to pursue more Windows Phone handsets later this year."
That sounds much nicer, and it took all of ten seconds to write. Now that Sprint's "official" and blunt statement of opinion is public, it's getting some backlash (most commenters both here and at the source seem to strongly disagree with Sprint's claims...and citations) and I'm sure Microsoft/Nokia will catch wind of these statements. I'm sure that won't go down well the next time they communicate.

First time smartphone purchase here. I researched for a month, knew what I wanted (the Arrive) and the Sprint rep did everything to steer me away from it. Poor customer service, no call backs, and absolutely no knowledge of the phone or OS and of course, pushed the android. For educated consumers, you can still get what you want. Sprint is definitely not dipping into the marketing dollars for WP.

Does anyone have David Owens' email ? As a Sprint cusomer for a few years, I would be happy to tell him how much I value the Windows Phone platform. While I really love my Arrive, I would very much options. I am the person they love, I buy a new phone every year and this year it does not appear I will be able to do that.

I am a Sprint customer and I've been waiting for a nice windows phone since day one. Come to the market late, with a niche phone and your reps bad mouth the device and push Andorid. Yeah, sells suck!! I've been waiting and waiting... I won't buy a phone if it is out late, like 6 months after like devices launch on other networks. If anyone offers family plans with a good amount of data (as I don't need unlimited) and fair rates I'd leave in a New York second! I paid ETFs and went to AT&T already, only to come back cause I kept dropping calls. Maybe Verizon will get a family plan and fair data allotments, yeah right..

All this hate on Verizon and Sprint just outdid them with this jerk statement from a s s h o l e David Owens. I should find his Twitter handle and tell him a thing or two. The comment by CAVX above is spot on; you don't release your internal matters to the public like that. This is an obvious "f*ck you Microsoft" by Sprint. Microsoft will obviously take the high road and turn the other cheek. I sometimes wish Microsoft would defend themselves more. Part of the bad rap Microsoft has is for not vigorously defending the Windows brand, but I digress. The point here is that Sprint just made a bad PR move (at least in the geek world) and I really hope it bites them in the a s s. Even though I've been on the Death Star (AT&T) for years, I've always defended Sprint, especially when they stood up against the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. Now I wish the Sprint brand will just die a slow, agonizing death. Maybe they're traumatized by the whole Palm Pré/webOS failure. Whatever, arseholes!!

Forget slow, agonizing death. The sooner the better. Besides their obvious anti-WP bias, in my area the last month service has been nearly non-existent. (I've been hopping on their network with my HD7 and laptop via a mobile wireless access point.)

I live minutes from Sprint's campus and so I want to support the local company. I just feel like that they didn't give windows phone a chance. As someone who wants a windows phone they didn't give me a good choice of phones. The Rep actually tried to talk me out of the Arrive when I got one for my wife. I just couldn't do the Arrive but my wife loves it. She does want a bigger phone and she only uses the touch screen. Oh well, my next phone will be a windows phone on sprint or not!

How stupid does that guy have to be?
They DON'T have to build the enthusiast.. all they have to do is hang on for the ride that MS and Nokia are already pushing. Wow they are dumb.
"Can't build a brand by ourself" Really?? Again... hang on for the ride. As usual, everyone else already did the work.
This makes sprint look pathetic IMO.

Dear Sprint we all know you need to sale iPhones to get back the big money you pay for it, but in business you should be more careful on your words, dismiss a partner with lies & half trues is never a good idea... The road is long and you'll never know if you will be begging for his help

This is the exact same line that Sprint took with webOS, and one of the reasons I stuck my Pre in a drawer and picked up an Arrive on eBay. Basically, they've put all their eggs in the iPhone basket and can't afford supporting another ecosystem. Android was apparently a stopgap until they could get the iPhone and now they're in too deep. My contract with Sprint is up in 2 weeks, and I think I will wait until the Lumia 900 is available on AT&T and jump back there. It has become clear to a lot of us now that Sprint simply doesn't care about user preferences

For those Sprint users concerned with having to pay more, AT&T actually has very comparable pricing. For 450 minutes, unlimited messaging, and 2GB LTE data, it'll cost you $85, before any discounts. Since Sprint started assessing their $10 "Premium" data surcharge, their comparable unlimited plan runs about $80. For me, I'll gladly pay $5/month to not get jerked around.

Breaking news: Sprint stocks crash to record lows which forces them to file for bankruptcy and close some stores, meanwhile t-mobile becomes the 3rd largest carrier in the US. I seriously can't stand sprint anymore,not granting me a free ETF for using my unlimited data and leaving because of their unusable speeds.

@Winterfang, yes, both the Arrive and the Trophy are middle-of-the-road devices, compared to the current live of Windows Phones. I would not call them "crap" though. They both fill a need, from a hardware perspective, and are running the latest version of a great operating system. I have friends with these phones, and they are glad to have them. Some people (and that number is growing) just don't want an Android or iPhone device.

Agreed, I have a trophy on Vzw, as it's not the top end phone, it's a great WP7 device. With my options limited, I would rather have this Trophy than any other current phone on my carrer.
One thing to remember, besides larger/different screens or a keyboard, all first gen Wp7 devices were built to the same exact specs. So they pretty much run at the same speed and performance.
So, the Arrive is a trophy with a keyboard....Pretty much...

I'm betting you've never used an Arrive. I've been rocking one since April and couldn't be happier.
For business, a physical keyboard is a must, and the Arrive's is stellar. Not adequeate, but STELLAR. The size works for me, though another half inch on the screen would definitely be appealing. Hasn't stopped me from loving the phone for almost a year though.
Ideally, Nokia slaps WP on an E7. THAT phone is sexy.

yeah i know how these carriers work. when i got my htc trophy at verizon they wernt even being displayed and so i had to ask for it. Essentially when i was purchasing my new phone the guy clearing me out was just bad mouthing my decision saying he "wouldnt be suprised if i come back to switch". i couldnt believe what i had just heard. Then these reps of these carriers wounder why they dont sell...

I'm not a Sprint hater, I've been on the service a few years and for the most part, they have done right by me. But this news is just too much to bear.
When I joined Sprint, I started with the HTC Touch Pro2. Definitely a step up from my Razr, but the Androids and iPhones very quickly surpassed my reliable if unremarkable Windows Mobile phone. So what to do? Switch to Android? Head to the Death Star and make the iPhone leap?
But no, I stuck it out with Sprint and waited for the Arrive because I liked the service and I liked the TP2. The salesman didn't bother to try and talk me out of it, because he could tell I wasn't in the mood for a debate. I was probably the only guy in that store that signed up for a "reservation". And I have to say, the Arrive has been a great phone for me (and my wife), and I still have about a year to go before my contract is up.
And then I read this crappy comment, and it all makes sense. No buy in, no sales support, no ads, no marketing... Sprint, you never fell in love and now you have your iPhone. I hope you two are happy. I'll be taking my business account and 3 devices (two phones and a hotspot) to AT&T come renewal time.

I am in the same boat. I went to my Sprint store here in NC and they first did not have a WP7 and then they had one over in the corner by the Nextel phones against the back wall. I did not see any promotional material for the phone and the place for a description was blank. The advertised the Palm Pixi more than the Arrive.

if this is true I am so disgusted with SPRINT
they have keeped me hanging on for to long now ...
what ever happened to the 3 devices coming to SPRINT
BS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
they and take their android phones and STICK Them ...!!!

It's disappointing to see your comments on Windows Phone 7. I watched the iPhone and Android phones come and go and nothing compelled me to jump into the smartphone game until the Windows Phone 7 came along. I searched carriers to decide which carrier to choose solely based on their WP7 options. If Sprint is choosing not to even provide an option, then I guess you're out of the running for my business. I don't understand why you wouldn't want to provide options for your customers.

Additionally, I have never once seen a WP7 banner in a Sprint store window. It's hard to see in the store through the Android and iPhone banners. Perhaps if you spent even a modicum of resources displaying info about the Arrive (one of the highest and most rated phones on your network) it might get the attention it deserves.

I see through Sprint's crap. Like their Unlimited data counter, do a check on our data. If you're using it the way a phone was intended...mobile web, not streaming Netflix 24/7.. You'll see you probably use less than 2GB of data. Their commercial describes a moderate user of web. Use any data calculation from Verizon and At&t.

Also... Sprint offers Unlimited at this point because they have to. If they didn't or don't in the future, I guarantee they won't be able to outpace their churn.

Screw Sprint. They can enjoy their distant third place that is propped up by being the silent partner network provider for cell carriers that even those who are interested in cell phone technology have never heard of.
Maybe somone should try to build some enthusiam for the Sprint brand.

The people who would likely go review a phone are hardcore phone users. They care enough to review phones. The average user, on the other hand, will simply complain to friends/family looking for guidance and then return the phone because they do not like it. What's the problem?
Well, they don't know how to USE the phone. Yes, the UI is simple and makes sense to us and we know all of the great features of Windows Phone. We're all veteran users, and even those veterans of other platforms know that there is a wealth of information about Windows Phone available online in the form of how-to guides and videos. BUT, the average user does not know about all this, and if they do they are unlikely to spend the time to get the knowledge they need.
Over winter break, I was home and a family friend I knew had an HD7. He had owned it for about a month. He liked the phone, but he had NO idea what it could do. He was still running NoDo. He had no idea you could get Zune and update the phone. He had no idea what Local Scout was. He was clueless as to how to move tiles around or to pin new tiles. He only knew how to unpin tiles, so he had a checkerboard look on his home page since he had removed a few tiles without repositioning them. I'm guessing this is probably the case for a lot of users of Windows Phone who simply got the phone because it looked nice and was the cheapest. I would not be surprised if this were often the case. Thus, there is no wonder that the phone gets returned so often. The user does not know how to use it and few people have Windows Phones that they can turn to. In addition, it appears that people working at carrier stores know very little about the phones or are simply not educating users about the phones. We have to address this problem!

The difference is that a lot of people have Android phones. They can find someone to turn to. Not that many people have Windows Phones and the carriers seem unlikely or unwilling to help with even the basic stuff.

More carrier people using excuses. Its simple if you don't have any devices or have one device that you salespeople do all they can to push people away from then gues what it wont build enthusiasm for the product. Give consumers the choice - market the phone just like all the others and guess what you'll see consumers buy the phones. I've yet to see anyone I show my phone to say they dont like the experience. Its different from Iphone and Android not saying better just different. That said I love the OS personally.

I will be cancelling as soon as the Lumia 900 is out on AT&T. Sprint has just made too many mistakes for me to keep financing their failure. Whats more insulting is that this is the company that had a HUGE press event for the Kyocera Echo (dula screen android phone) with David Blaine (or another magiciam)! Yet they are telling me that AT&T, Nokia, Microsoft are all wrong? 100M+ marketing effort is not enough for them???
They can have my ETF, im out

Sprint's not doing so hot. Their CDMA data network hasn't been significantly upgraded in years, and is choking under millions of new data customers enticed with "unlimited data" promises. In large swathes of the Bay Area, during peak times data speeds often drop below 100 KBps.
On top of that, most of their hero devices haven't been so great in terms of success. Remember the Samsung Instinct? Or the Palm Pre? The HTC Hero?
Their 4G effort is in shambles.
And their efforts to try and make the Arrive into a representative of WP sales is laughable. First, they priced it at $199 on-network, while pricing higher-end phones at lower prices. Lo and behold, the Arrive didn't sell well.
It also doesn't help that it's a Gen 1 phone which all the retailers chase users away from.
If Sprint's strategy is going to be "just another Android 4G carrier competing on price," I don't think they're going to like the business outcome. They need to start delivering high-end handsets across the board at competitive prices. They also need to either add massive capacity to their dying EVDO network, or stop advertising "unlimited high speed data." Data with speeds approaching dial-up is not "high speed."

I'm screwed. Me and my fiance's contracts were up on June 6 last summer (2 years prior we got the Palm Pre on day 1). AT&T has crappy coverage in my area. And we all know where Verizon stands on WP7. Let's see how much longer my Palm can last.
Thank you very much Sprint... from an 11-year customer.

If you've been with Sprint for 11-years, were you every with ATT? If so, I'm sure they've made substantial improvement to their Networks' backbone and service is greatly improved. As stated in an earlier post, I've been with ATT since they bought out Cellular One, and have no issues....TEXAS.

@OMG55 and @Residing, I know many in my area that have or had AT&T service, the hads outnumber the haves, and many of the haves aren't so happy. :-(
@Residing, good idea with the GoPhone, but that service doesn't include the roaming agreements that contract customers get, so it may not be an accurate gauge of service...

No internet sharing update, same text message character limit problem since launch, no advertising the phone whatsoever. When I bought this phone the guy kept referring to it as an Android phone.
Yeah, Sprint really never was committed to the Arrive or WP7. They have no one to blame but themselves.

I dont know what part of the country you're in, but I've been on ATT since they bought cellular one years ago and haven't had any problems. My phone works when everyone else's drops including the infamous iphone. could in have been you device???? Remember, the radio include in the phone could have been defective and don't tell my you kept the same phone when you went back to Sprint, because I'm sure you don't own an unlocked device.

All I know is that I'm happy to be away from them ever since they put all their eggs in one basket for the iPhone. I loved my Arrive, but when my 3G was crap on both my Nexus S AND Arrive, I raised heck and let them know it until they let me out of my contract ETF free. T-Mobile's coverage isn't as good as Sprint, but their 2.5G is as fast as Sprint's 3G lots of times. On top of that, most of the time when my Arrive or Nexus would show 3G for me, the 3G just didn't even work (i.e. Walmart, Meijer, Walgreens, etc...). I knew it wasn't the phones because I had been through 3 Nexus devices and 2 Arrives.

I hate caps, but I've yet to even come close to my 2GB (which I can upgrade to 5GB for only $10 bucks more, making it actually cheaper than Sprint at like 73-75 bucks a month OUT OF CONTRACT). It is a bit of an adjustment to not just listen to Pandora as much (especially when driving) but if I do feel like I'm not able to maintain 2GB then I'll just bump it to 5GB. Plus, I can just unlock my phone to use an AT&T SIM in areas where I lose coverage (which is really rare, shockingly being GSM).

Point is, I've left Sprint because:

1. I knew they weren't going to get anymore Windows Phones due to the iPhone and Android (and really, how cocky they have started to become ever since they've been on the Android bandwagon and NOW the iPhone, despite the fact that they're still loosing a lot of money). T-Mobile AT LEAST took a chance with the Radar (despite rumors are that they're going to be sold by DT). I've even CONSIDERED AT&T now (would still have to take miracle device for me sign with them, and until NFC technology is in Windows Phone I'm not signing a contract with anyone because everyone released now are just recycled Android phones that aren't special IMHO).

2. T-Mobile's service (not coverage) is way better than Sprint's, and I actually get to USE my internet instead of watching a bar load for 3 minutes before giving up. To go with that, my plans are pretty much similar while being cheaper; I get unlimited talk, text, and nearly unlimited web (if I really pass 5GB then I need to change something in my life).

My point is, I think if enough people took a stand and LEFT Sprint that it would send them a message. How MANY people like Windows Phone outside of us techy bloggers is what the question is, and would there be enough people leaving Sprint because of lack of Windows Phones to even make them pay attention that AREN'T reading blogs.

Again, this is that pushed and launched the KYOCERA ECHO with a big ad campaign, prominent website placement, and DAVID "motherF***" Blaine performing magic tricks at a press event! I will be so happy to leave them once the 900 is released, I cant wait

Let’s see, sprint brought out only one WP7 phone model. It had a keyboard just like the Touch Pro 2 yet they cut no good deals and pretty much screwed everyone on a SERO plan that would have migrated over and evangelized the hell out of the platform.
That one phone was bulky so it turned away nonphysical keyboard people. Not to mention that the psychology of only bringing out one phone says we don’t stand behind this.
Now they still don’t have a new model so people like me on SERO switch away. Guess who has a T-Mobile radar and nothing but good things to say about it?
As a bonus they hide the phone in the store over by junky blackberry’s
Hmmmmm I wonder why it's not jumping off the shelf? I know, blame Microsoft!

Hello, another Sprint HTC Arrive owner chiming in here!
Alot of comments here, wow!
My one simple opinion on this is, Sprint put out one and only one WP out there for its subscribers. And they want to base the results of success or failure off just that?? One???? Let alone, conclude FAIL based on one shot?
I'm saying, if Sprint had launched WP out with another first generation device, say, a huge HTC HD7-like device, and even a third.... even if it was Focus Flash-like.... with the Arrive, maybe there would have been more attention to what was there. Maybe it's the pizzaz of a huge screen that everybody likes? The Arrive doesn't have that, so nobody would notice little Arrive. Had Sprint launched a HD7 next to it, I think people then might pay notice to it, and then see WP quality awesomeness.
I think it's kinda like saying, if you're a professional basketball player (Sprint), making it a career, you claim you totally suck at free throws (WP), but only and only because you went 0-for-1 on free throws, and then all you do is practice to perfect your 3-pointers (Droid). Take a few more free throws, adjust your approach to those shots, then tell us if you still suck or not!
I'm a 15 year Sprint guy, I think I got everybody beat here! :) I have no problem staying loyal to Sprint, I kind of like that notion of loyalty..... but I LOVE Windows Phone, and maybe its time to take that over my Sprint longevity.

Microsoft should buy Sprint and get a new Product Realization guy. Perhaps the standard product guy can step up and also get things realized.
Sprint sold their soul to Apple to get the iPhone. I recall they have to sell a certain number or face steep fees. I'm surprised they even make much effort at their Android phones. They need to sell iPhones.
I am a happy Arrive owner.

Early last year my brother-in-law got an Arrive from Sprint. His wife had an Evo and he didn't like it. I set the Arrive up for him, and man did he love the interface and the way it handled his email. He was so excited. A week later he called me about the text messaging limit problem, and after my doing some research and getting zip from Sprint customer care on a fix, we agreed to return it and he ended up with an Evo. The problem was that his text messages got cut off once they reached the character limit (I believe 200) and the only option at that point is for him to manually initiate a 2nd SMS and send the remainder of his message separately. This was absolutely unacceptable, and between Sprint and HTC there were no answers and really no acknowledgement of a problem. If Owen's statement about high return rate is true, then I wouldn't be surprised if many other customers returned the Arrive because of the text messaging problem like my brother-in-law did, a wholly Sprint problem, as opposed to any issues with the Windows Phone experience itself.

I'm not happy about this either guys, but I'm guessing Sprint based a lot of their decision on how many Arrives came back in the 30 day window. Why they came back is probably what needs to be looked at. I haven't had any issues with mine personally, maybe people went home and took a lot of shit from friends/family for not having android/iphone. It might not all be the stores.

Listen to us Sprint.
It is clear that you have no regard for customer choice selection and ultimately YOUR customers. We came here to speak out for something we want to continue and progress, Windows Phone 7. If Sprint is unable to deliever this expectation, then we are unable to pay Sprint. The business will go else where and thus ending another company. Sad Face. :( How come other phone company's did not have the problem selling enough? Hmmm it is because Sprint was to busy promoting Evo and placed to many 'bets' into the only thing that could compare to the iPhone. Of course now Sprint has the Iphone and Evo's (Andriod) will be forgotten about.

Dear Sprint, This is So LAME!!! I have 3 phones, 2 Arrives and 1 Android. I need 2 more Phones this year for a total of 5. I also have an Airave for better signal in the house. The next 2 will be Windows Phones. In a car dealership they have Many Different Styles and models to cover everyones Needs.
You Only have 1 WINDOWS PHONE!!! I thank God its the Only Phone I ever Liked!!! Still, You have No Selection or Advertise that you even have the Phone you Morons. Now you Complain that its not moving. IDIOT!!!
The Arrive Is AWESOME!!! My wife Loves Her Arrive, and tells her iPhone Family (and there are a Lot of them) That she Loves her Arrive. This is the Only Phone where I Truly am not waiting for the Next Latest and Greatest. This Phone Does Everything I need. I love it!!! But You do need More Selection, I will Jump Ship, There are a lot more Windows Phones out there. I HATE APPLE!!! and put my Windows Phone against all my friends.